The impacts of the built environment on the incidence rate of COVID-19: A case study of King County, Washington

Chao Liu; Zerun Liu; ChengHe Guan

doi:10.1016/j.scs.2021.103144

The impacts of the built environment on the incidence rate of COVID-19: A case study of King County, Washington

Sustain Cities Soc. 2021 Nov:74:103144. doi: 10.1016/j.scs.2021.103144. Epub 2021 Jul 10.

Authors

Chao Liu¹, Zerun Liu¹, ChengHe Guan²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urban Planning, College of Architecture and Urban planning, Tongji University, No. 1239, Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, China.
² Urban Science and Policy, NYU Shanghai; Global Network Assistant Professor, New York University Shanghai, No. 1555, Century Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai, 200120, China.

Abstract

With COVID-19 prevalent worldwide, current studies have focused on the factors influencing the epidemic. In particular, the built environment deserves immediate attention to produce place-specific strategies to prevent the further spread of coronavirus. This research assessed the impact of the built environment on the incidence rate in King County, US and explored methods of researching infectious diseases in urban areas. Using principal component analysis and the Pearson correlation coefficient to process the data, we built multiple linear regression and geographically weighted regression models at the ZIP code scale. Results indicated that although socioeconomic indicators were the primary factors influencing COVID-19, the built environment affected COVID-19 cases from different aspects. Built environment density was positively associated with incidence rates. Specifically, increased open space was conducive to reducing incidence rates. Within each community, overcrowded households led to an increase in incidence rates. This study confirmed previous research into the importance of socioeconomic variables and extended the discussion on spatial and temporal variation in the impacts of urban density on the spread of COVID, effectively guiding sustainable urban development.

Keywords: Air quality; Built environment; MLR; Post COVID-19 pandemic; Socioeconomic factors; Sustainability; Urban density; Urban planning.